PFRD honors persons, groups serving PWDs
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (PFRD), the country’s oldest NGO serving persons with disabilities, gives out the Apolinario Mabini Awards every two years to honor individuals, groups, organizations, local government units, corporations and employers who have done the most to serve PWDs.
The 30th Apolinario Mabini awarding ceremony was held earlier this year at Malacañang with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin hosting awardees, various groups and organizations at the event sponsored by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
The screening committee, chaired by PFRD director Jaime Silva who is vision impaired, visited 200 sites all over the Philippines to assess the nominees’ compliance with mandated requirements, while the final selection of the awardees was done by the Mabini Awards Committee chaired by Audrey Zubiri.
The Apolinario Mabini Life Achievement Award was given to Antonio Llanes Jr. for having pioneered computer-assisted training for the blind. He co-founded ATRIEV, or Adaptive Technology for the Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired.
The Filipino with Disability Award was given to Jose Go Ranola who, despite being totally blind, established a successful construction company and has championed access to education, training and livelihood using assistive technologies.
The Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines Inc. was chosen for the Organization of Persons with Disabilities Award.
SM Cares Program was cited for its program to empower PWDs while the show Inklunasyon was given the Media Advocate Award for being the first live streaming disability-inclusive program in Asia.
PFRD’s longtime president Manuel Agcaoili was posthumously honored by renaming the Employer of the Year award after him.
For this category, awards were given to large, medium and small companies who hired their workforce from the disabled sector.
Awardees were Accenture Inc. Philippines with 2,000 PWDs; Tahanang Walang Hagdanan Inc. with 1,000 and Caravan Food Group Inc. who was credited for hiring 56.5 percent of their workforce from this sector.
A posthumous Special Recognition Award was given to Capt. Oscar Taleon who, after becoming blind in an accident, co-founded AKAP Pinoy in 2004.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo were given special recognition for sponsoring and leading the passage of the Inclusive Education Act for Learners with Disabilities. Gatchalian also championed the Alternative Education System Act.
The LGU Awards were given to the municipality of Carmona, Cavite for its disability inclusive programs and Barangay San Lorenzo in Makati for being a model of disability inclusive local governance.
SM Malls, Ayala Properties and Robinsons Land were commended in the different Disability Friendly Establishment Awards.